Faculty of Arts

Understanding Engagement in Transmedia Culture

The screen industry want more and more audience ‘engagement’. But what does engagement really mean to those who make and experience screen content? 

The screen industries survive on getting and keeping audiences ‘engaged’ with their content. ‘Engagement’ has become a buzzword throughout the film, television and gaming industries, especially as screen culture has become more and more transmedia, with story worlds spread across film, television, videogames and comics and online videos. 

But despite its importance, ‘engagement’ is never really defined, instead used by the screen industries to vaguely mean content that is ‘good’. Based on interviews with 35 content creators and audience focus groups, this book examines what we actually mean when we say content is ‘engaging’.  

Publication details and content overview

A photograph of a woman sitting down and reading a book entitled 'Understanding Engagement in Transmedia Culture'.December 2019

Routledge

 
A headshot of Liz Evans standing in front of a bookcase and smiling at the camera.

The word ‘engagement’ is an important buzzword for the screen industries but I wanted to delve into how the people involved in creating and experiencing screen content use the term. I was interested in finding out what content creators think make screen experiences meaningful and valuable and whether audiences agree or disagree.


Liz Evans, Professor of Screen Cultures
 

More about Liz Evans work

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